Justin St. Thomas frequently cruised by the place on wheels, even before he was old enough to have a driver's license, without knowing anything about it.

"In my teens, I used to skateboard past it all of the time," St. Thomas recalled. "I think I probably skateboarded around the parking lot and just passed it. Like many people, I'd seen it, I passed it. It looked like just a small, pushed-back little building."

Easy to miss for a passerby since it is set back several feet off the main drag, Cup O Joy nevertheless has a reputation as a destination spot on Friday and Saturday nights in downtown Green Bay. And not just for locals.

"People come from all over," said Jan Oettinger, the longtime director at Cup O Joy. "They come from Milwaukee and Chicago and Minneapolis and the U.P. (Michigan's Upper Peninsula)."

That's just a sample of the audience demographic. In the midst of its 25th anniversary as a faith-centric venue for professional and amateur musicians alike to get on stage, Cup O Joy draws performers from around the world.

"In our own little world (in Green Bay), and I realize we have a little world, the Cup is actually pretty well-known in musician circles," Oettinger said.

A birthday slice of Cup O Joy's widespread appeal will be served Saturday on the other side of downtown. The silver anniversary for the nonprofit will be commemorated during its annual benefit concert at Meyer Theatre.

On the bill for the show, which starts at 7 p.m., are national recording artists John Cox and Danen Kane, local bluegrass/gospel band Bent Grass and well-traveled comedian Daren Streblow.

Tickets purchased in advance through cupojoy.com or at Lighthouse Christian Books in Ashwaubenon are $10 — discounted from previous years — for the celebration event. The general-admission tickets also will be sold at the door Saturday for $15.

"We decided we really want everyone to come. I mean, it's not a party if you don't show up," Oettinger said. "We really wanted it to be special for the 25th and have people come."

It's such a big deal that for the first time Cup O Joy won't be open this weekend. In years past, the music center at 232 S. Broadway would still host a performance on the Friday night before the Saturday benefit date.

The approximately 100 people on Cup O Joy's exclusively volunteer staff are devoting their time and energy this week for its major fundraiser of the year. The benefit is the only time attendees have to pay to get into a Cup O Joy show.

"We do not charge an admission as you come into the building," longtime volunteer Gary Lorfeld told a crowd of about 100 as he stood on stage during an interlude between songs at Cup O Joy last Saturday night. "This place is totally nonprofit, all-volunteer. But, obviously, we still have expenses, and the band has expenses."

No small 'miracle'

Attendees are asked to give an offering during on a show night, putting money in cans labeled "Cup" Ministry (to support the facility) and Music Ministry (to support the performing musicians that evening).

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With the exception of this weekend, when it holds its annual benefit concert Saturday at Meyer Theatre, Cup O Joy at 232 S. Broadway in downtown Green Bay hosts nightly music acts every Friday and Saturday throughout the year.(Photo: Todd McMahon/Press-Gazette Media)

"It takes a lot of people," Oettinger said. "Everybody is a volunteer — from the people who cut the lawn to clean the building to run the sound. If we don't have a volunteer for it, we can't do it. It's how it is."

The theme of the benefit this weekend is "Celebrating 25 Miracle Years!"

Oettinger contends the longevity and the success of Cup O Joy after a quarter century "is a miracle."

What started in 1989 as a small coffeehouse for community musicians in a storefront down the street at 335 N. Broadway gradually evolved into the bigger and well-played site for Christian musicians. Cup O Joy made the move to its current site, which previously was used by The Salvation Army and Knights of Columbus, in 1999.

Capacity inside the building is 350. It includes a two-tiered showroom for concertgoers with movable chairs and tables, a concessions area, and elaborate sound, lighting and video systems for the shows.

"It's a miracle because nobody actually sat down and had a business plan. We were just a place to play," said Oettinger, a musician who has been involved with Cup O Joy since almost its start. "Nobody had a plan, like, 'Where are we going to be in five years or 10 years?' We just of kind chalk up everything that's happened to one little miracle stacked on top of another.

"I have people that call me and say, 'We want to do something like that in our community, so tell us how to do it.' I say, 'It'd be very hard because I don't know how to reproduce a miracle.' It is just a series of miracles stacked up."

Opening doors

Oettinger, a self-professed planner, has the Friday-Saturday performance dates booked into next year already.

Local young artists St. Thomas and Mackenzie Johnson are among those who have worked their way onto the extensive list of performers at Cup O Joy, some of whom have come from as far as Australia and South Africa.

St. Thomas, 29, a graduate of Green Bay Southwest High School, fronts the Funky Fresh Fellowship. The seven-member reggae group performed last Saturday, along with Chicago's Aracely Bock and her teenage son Josh.

"It's wonderful fellowship. It's a place to just meet the kindest people," St. Thomas said. "I've played at a lot of venues in the area, and it has the best sound system. The sound crew really works with you. As a musician, it's a wonderful place to get inspired by other groups that come in. It's just encouraging to be here and have positive feedback. Everybody is so uplifting."

Johnson agreed.

The aspiring singer and songwriter is 16 years old, a junior at De Pere High School. Johnson and her family have attended numerous shows at what is commonly referred to as "The Cup," and the teen in the past two years has been on stage frequently.

She has sung and played acoustic guitar on the "open mic" night held once a month there. She also has been invited to open for a few of the featured artists on other nights.

"It's totally a safe place to share my music and be open with the community," Johnson said. "I love how truth is always poured into my ears every time I go to a show or an open mic. The ordinary people that perform there share extraordinary messages through their songs about love and hope, and it encourages me in my personal-life journey, as it speaks to many others as well."

tmcmaho2@greenbay.gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @ToddMcMahon23

If You Go

Cup O Joy is commemorating its 25th anniversary with its annual benefit concert.

• What: The celebration event is to feature performances by musicians John Cox, Danen Kane and Bent Grass as well as comedian Daren Streblow.

• Admission: Advance tickets are $10, available online at cupojoy.com and in person at Lighthouse Christian Books, 2781 S. Oneida St., Ashwaubenon. Tickets also will be sold at the door Saturday night for $15. For more information, send email to jano@cupojoy.comor call (920) 437-6694.